Adrienne LeCoultre-Overstraten
Overview Dr. Adrienne Larissa Jacqueline LeCoultre-Overstraten was a Dranian politician of the right-wing Grand National Party formerly serving as Finance Minister and MP for Santa Sharika. She became acting Prime Minister following the assault against Margaret Woodhall. Early Life Adrienne was born in 3368 as the daughter of Janice LeCoultre, then-former Governor of Ulbrach Province and her husband Jacob van Overstraten, who was the CEO of a coffeehouse chain. From early, she enjoyed a privileged education due to the vast wealth of her parents (deriving from her father's company and her mother's 15% share of LeCoultre Hotels, a hotel chain founded by her grandmother, Larissa LeCoultre, who served both as Head of Government and Head of State of Dranland in the 3200s). After school, where she had developed an early interest in political issues, she visited the famous First Private Dranian University (FPDU), an academic stronghold of the GNP, the party that her grandmother had founded. She studied political science and economics there, when her Professor in the former subject, Obadiah Lodwick, a one-time GNP presidential nominee, discovered her natural talent for political debate, rhetoric and writing and began to encourage it actively. After having earned a doctorate in political science in 3385, she began to teach at the FPDU for over ten years before getting involved in actual politics for the first time in 3395. By that time, her mother had become Prime Minister of Dranland after having ousted Delia Breckinridge. Adrienne became a member of the Santa Sharika city council and an advisor to local GNP leader Michèle Desyeux. Early Political Career In the 3397 elections, she was elected to the federal Parliament via the Valdor party list of the GNP, alongside two of her family members, namely her mother Janice and Marco LeCoultre II., who descended from a different line of the LeCoultre dynasty. In Parliament, she first became GNP spokeswoman for trade and industry and subsequently parliamentary leader, after the departure of Sabrina McMahon. Due to the emerging of several far-right and far-left parties like the Valdorian Blue Shirt Movement and the Democratic Socialist Party, she was soon at the forefront of economic debates, fervently defending capitalism and free market economics at every occasion. However, she also became a popular target of the DSP which attempted to portray her as a lackey of the rich and privileged and a foe of the working class. LeCoultre countered by calling DSP leader Butterworth a "sexist" and "loathsome person" after some of his remarks towards her were deemed disrespectful against women in general. Minister She was re-elected in the 3401 elections, becoming one of the two sole GNP MPs from Valdor Province, the other one being her mother, who resigned half a year later. After the Right had managed to form a four-way coalition (PP, GNP, CNP, PLA) under the PP's José Gomez, she became Minister of Trade and Industry and continued her fervent defence of capitalism in that position. In the course of the impending re-union of GNP and CNP in early 3405, she delivered a speech at the CNP's national convention in which she called upon its supporters to approve of the merger. In the first convention of the re-united GNP in February 3405, she was elected Deputy Chairwoman of the party, alongside James Tanaka and Geoffrey Fox. In the ensuing elections in June, LeCoultre-Overstraten lost her constituency following the PLA landslide victory, leaving her with a mere 43.4 percent in the runoff. However, she kept her parliamentary seat via the Valdorian GNP party list. As Minister, she mainly aimed at warding off socialist economic policies as proposed by DSP and GS, such as the introduction of tarrifs or the nationalization of businesses. She also spoke out against unions threatening to call a general strike following the plan of education Minister Jenny Maldonado (GNP)to privatize schools (secondary strike action was illegal in Dranland at that time, allowing only teachers' unions to strike following the reform). She was criticized by PAC Chairman Daniel Leite for her alleged "undemocratic" stance on the issue, but replied with harsh criticism to him: "First of all, I used to be a Government Professor prior to my political career, so I don't need to take lectures in democratic decision-making from a failed former President and failed former Governor. Now, let's turn to the facts: Mr Leite was not well-advised to question my commitment to democracy. His comment that even the decree of the majority cannot justify assaults on the people's freedom is a perfectly legitimate concern, which I unambiguously agree to. However, after checking PAC voting history in recent years, I can't take that party's Chairman serious on this issue: Pensions Act, May 3403, proposes to force all people to buy government pensions, even banning them from using additional private options. February 3405, National Railways Act, proposes to expropriate all private TOCs and force citizens to make use of a state monopoly. PAC voted 'aye'. December 3407, Foreign Investments and Tariffs Act, aims to seize autonomy over private business from entrepreneurs and allow the state to dictate to businessmen whether they are allowed to dispose of their own company shares. Daniel Leite, once again, approves. PAC has become a DSP light, and its Chairman is a socialist to the core. Altogether, I'm inclined to call upon Mr Leite to to put hus own house in order first before accusing me of undemocratic positions." Following the elections of June 3409 in which the GNP and its allies lost their majority but remained in power since the left-wing bloc fell short of a majority as well, she had to implement several measures that had passed the assembly that contradicted her personal views strongly, such as the nationalization of TOCs and the legalization of eminent domain for "vital government works", which she scoffed as "a despicable instrument of tyranny". On other measures, however, she was able to work with the opposition, such as banning monopolies and enabling the government to actively break them up. She remained in office until December 3414, when she switched to the Ministry of Finance in the administration of Margaret Woodhall. Acting Prime Minister In May 3417, following the assassination attempt against Incumbent Margaret Woodhall, she became acting Prime Minister due to the ineligibility of the actual Deputy Prime Minister, Jose Gomez (PP). LeCoultre-Overstraten herself only barely survived the crime, which she had witnessed herself, having been shielded by a number of guards before a bullet was able to hit her. This was her statement on the crime: "This is a vast tragedy, an unexcusable crime and a fatal blow to the people of Dranland, who, regardless of their political affiliation, I believe can agree on Margaret's personal integrity and strength, as can be seen by her consistent uncompromising defense of the values she believed in, deriving from the staunch conviction that her policies would serve the people well and improve their lives (...). I still cling to hoping that I will only temporarily hold this position and that Margaret will one day return to the position that the people of Dranland have assigned to her." In December 3417, she ran for GNP Chairwoman without a rival and received the support of 93,5 percent of delegates. In her victory speech, she paid tribute to her predecessor: "was the greatest political figure of my lifetime, and I'm sure many Dranish people feel the same. Under Woodhall, the GNP rose from third place to becoming Dranland's leading party again, and an unwavering bulwark for individual freedom. I will do my best to retain this legacy, even though it won't be an easy task to fill her shoes." '' In May 3418, she was part of the Dranish delegation during an official state visit to Hulstria, where they were received by the Emperors and Governor-General Dr. Thomas Michels. In the aftermath of the visit, she was criticized for an allegedly overly fancy travelling style (including numerous restaurant visits and buying new sets of clothes every other day) by George Butterworth, however she insisted that this was none of the public's business and called the DSP leader a "pathological slanderer" in turn. Later during her tenure as acting PM, her governed achieved a huge success as it passed a bill abolishing tarrifs on imports, thus re-establishing a free trade regime. Ahead of the 3420 elections, Dranland was shaken by an increase in radicalism from all sides of the political spectrum, including new vigour for ethnic nationalist movements. The government managed to prevent an escalation of the tensions spurred by several militant organizations such as the ''Sons of Jalal and the Kyo nationalist KKAJ. Ahead of the 3420 elections, LeCoultre-Overstraten, in the capacity of GNP Chairwoman, endorsed controversial former Prime Minister Tom Marshall (PP) for President, provoking a strong backlash from the left, which nominated Digby Monmouth, and criticism from the part of Elaine Duvalle. She also clashed with her arch rival Butterworth in a heated war of words, amid which she issued the following tirade: "Friends, let me be very clear: I have always considered George Butterworth one of the most loathsome human beings to ever have walked on Dranish soil, but what he wrote in his "Letter to the People" is nothing more than a tirade full of hate and intolerance towards those citizens who do not fit in his narrow-minded world view: libertarians, entrepreneurs, journalists, wealthy Dranians - he denigrates and besmirches their professions, slanders their integrity and portrays them across the board as diabolic exploiters of the 'ordinary people', who he claims to represent. Now, that man's only trait that one could considered 'ordinary' - or, to be more precise, primitive, is his brains - apart from that, he is an elitist, extremist, authoritarian, out-of-touch commie nutjob who portrays the working class as passive and helpless fools at the mercy of a non-existent privileged class that is out for enslaving them. However, it is in fact Mr Butterworth who wants to enslave the productive classes, that is to say, all of those who pay taxes, including the vast part of the working, middle and upper class, to his socialist utopia, seeking to suck off the fruits of their work, hand it over to government bureaucrats and subsequently pouring it over union bosses and welfare parasites. This, combined with collective expropriation and mutual plunder - vices which he uses to euphoniously camouflage as 'solidarity' and 'social' justice - is George Butterworth's vision for Dranland, and it mean slavery, complete abolition of individual autonomy and subordination of the individual to the state. This totalitarian ideal, not libertarianism, will lead Dranland into anarchy, and I am starting to see that he seems to follow a kind of road map towards this goal, the first step of which was to disarm the citizens to deprive them of any opportunity to provide resistance to his aim of transforming Dranland into a second Badara. I am aware that, as a thinly veiled diversionary tactic, he has repeatedly condemned this man, but I am unashamed to say that George Butterworth and Jalal-al-e-Ahmad are brothers in the spirit of collectivist oppression and state-sanctioned slavery. Should this man, who has dared to accuse my goverment of intentionally driving up unemployment and thus plunging people into poverty, ever become Prime Minister of Dranland, I could not consider myself Dranish anymore." In the end, the GNP retained its position as strongest party despite moderate losses, and the right-wing bloc won a parliamentary majority, enabling her to stay in office. This was her victory speech during election night: "I think it is not an overstatement if I claim that the Dranish people have headed to the polls in fear this morning after they watched several new radical parties emerge and the likes of DSP, VBSM and VKA become more and more extreme with regards to their agendas. The people were confronted with the horrible prospects of losing their property and hard-earned fortune, being exposed to racial riots and even the dismantling of the Republic in favor of the monarchy which we abolished with the people's endorsement over 130 years ago. However, they also knew that there is a freedom-minded alternative to fanatism and fundamentalist mayhem, namely that of republicanism, capitalism and social tolerance, values embedded in the policies of the Dranish right. Communism, fascism, racism and religious narrow-mindedness all simultaneously tried to get their grip on our nation, but the voters rejected them all and opted for liberty. This election was a devastating blow to those who wish to destroy the values the Republic was founded upon, and a commanding victory for those who wish to preserve them. Even though her government managed to disarm the vast part of the Sons of Jalal, new threats aroused when their newly-established political wing occupied three Valdorian cities and overthrew local authorities. The Prime Minister and President Tom Marshall agreed to block access to the cities and evacuate residents who wished to leave them, however the Valdorian government criticized this approach and called for a local solution, which was also backed by the GNP-Valdor and its Chairman Herman Boxhall. On May 1, 3422, she eventually became Prime Minister in her own right when the assembly accepted a four-way right-wing cabinet. In the ensuing tenure, however, turmoil prevailed in Dranland, with Valdor Province being plunged into violence between Jalalists and monarchists, while the federal government refrained from taking direct action. When Valruzia threatened to assist the Jalaist forces, President Marshall and the DSP acted as a tandem, leaving the GNP out. The general public meanwhile credited the opposition more than the government for resolving the crisis, an impression which grew stronger when the DSP spearheaded efforts to ban extremist parties. In the elections of 3424, in the absence of the extremist parties which had been barred from contesting the ballot, the DSP won a landslide victory in both the presidential and parliamentary elections, while the GNP was reduced to fourth place and a mere 48 seats, while also losing all governorships and First Ministerships in the Provinces. In the light of this historic defeat, the Prime Minister stated: "This result cannot be palliated. The voters have delivered a crushing defeat to the GNP which we should interprete as a wake-up call for more activism, more emphasis on the freedom-minded values that our policies are based on and, last but not least, a change in leadership. I take full responsibility for this disastrous outcome and shall retreat from my position as GNP Chairwoman. In the light of this historic defeat, I have no right to hold onto this post nor to bewail the end of my political career. The people have spoken, and I shall bow to their decision. I also wish to thank Mr Maddocks and Mr Monmouth for their impressive results. I hold both in high esteems on a personal level, and even though I am not in favor of their political agenda, a significant part of the Dranish population has endorsed it, which we must accept as a matter of fact." LeCoultre-Overstraten also vacated her parliamentary seat when the new Parliament convened and announced that she would resign from politics altogether. She later became a professor of government at the public University of Llwybr Hawl in Loren. Political Views Despite the social liberalism of her mother, LeCoultre-Overstraten is one of the more conservative proponents of the GNP, opposing both abortion and gay marriage (although she supports civil unions with regards to the latter issue). On economic issues, she staunchly supports capitalism and anti-interventionism. She is also in favor of large privatization projects and tax cuts for all brackets of income. Electoral History !colspan=7 align=center|Parliament (Eastern Districts, Santa Sharika, Valdor) |- !align=center|Election !align=center|1st Round !align=center|% !align=center|2nd Round !align=center|% !align=center|Swing !align=center|Result |- |align=left|Jun 3397||414,000||46.0||493,200||54.8||▲+-0||Won |- |align=left|Jun 3401||371,700||41.3||456,300||50.7||▼4.1||Won |- |align=left|Jun 3405||283,500||31.5||390,600||43.4||▼7.3||Lost (kept seat via party list) |- |align=left|Jun 3409||393,300||37.7||452,700||50.3||▲6.9||Won |- |align=left|Nov 3412||443,700||49.3||538200||59.8||▲12.1||Won |- |align=left|Nov 3416||436,500||51.5||colspan=2|N/A||▲2.2||Won |- |align=left|Nov 3420||503,100||55.9||colspan=2|N/A||▲4.4||Won |- |align=left|Nov 3424||341,032||37.9||451,710||50.2||▼5.7||Won |- |} Category:Grand National Party (Dranland) politicians Category:Dranian people